Brussels: Europe and the Arabs - agencies
On Monday morning, hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate, under heavy security from the Israeli occupation police, who continued to impose strict measures and restrictions on Palestinians entering the mosque on the fifth day of the "Jewish Passover" holiday. According to what was reported by the Middle East News Agency, and added, “The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem stated that 482 settlers, in the form of groups, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque since the morning, and carried out provocative tours in its courtyards, and received explanations about the alleged “temple,” and performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern region. From him, before they left the squares on the side of Bab Al-Silsilah under the strict protection of the occupation police.
The occupation police deployed its members and special units since the morning in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa and at its gates to secure the settlers’ intrusions, and continued to restrict the entry of worshipers at dawn and prevented many from entering, and also prevented the guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from giving covering clothes to tourists arriving at the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate, and threatened them with arrest.
The occupation forces expelled the students of one of the schools from Al-Aqsa Mosque, in conjunction with the continued storming of settlers, and despite the occupation’s restrictions and preventing young men from entering Al-Aqsa, hundreds of men and women stationed in the courtyards of Al-Qudsi Al-Sharif were present.
Al-Aqsa Mosque was subjected to an Israeli attack and brutal attacks targeting worshipers and seclusions inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall, with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and gas, which led to injuries, hundreds of arrests, and severe damage to the contents of the prayer hall and Al-Aqsa clinic.
On the other hand, two Palestinians were wounded today, Monday, with live bullets, during the Israeli occupation forces’ raid on Aqabat Jaber camp, south of Jericho.
Local sources told the Palestinian News Agency, Wafa, that the occupation forces stormed the camp and surrounded a number of houses, which led to clashes.
The same sources added that the occupation forces surrounded the camp from several axes, and imposed a tight security cordon around the area.
In the same context, Palestinian medical and security sources said today, Monday, that two Palestinians were wounded by shrapnel, during the Israeli occupation forces' raid into the "Al-Ain" camp in the city of "Nablus", in the northern occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said - in a brief press statement - that its staff dealt with dozens of suffocation cases as a result of the occupation's storming of the camp and its extensive use of tear gas canisters.
It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation forces closed, last Saturday, the military checkpoints surrounding the city of "Nablus", in the northern occupied West Bank.
Palestinian security sources said that the occupation forces closed the "Za'tara" and "Hawara" checkpoints in the south, and prevented cars from passing through them. They also closed the "Beit Furik" checkpoint in the east, and the "Deir Sharaf" roundabout in the west.
The occupation forces tightened their military measures at the 17th checkpoint in the north, and checked the identities of Palestinian citizens.
Clashes erupted at the "Beit Furik" checkpoint in the east between settlers and Palestinian youths, and the occupation forces fired, as usual, tear gas canisters at the Palestinians.